A controversial new $70,000 luxury Chevrolet Suburban has surfaced in Mount Vernon: in Mayor Richard Thomas' parking space at City Hall.

The vehicle, bought but not paid for, had been in limbo for weeks after Thomas' office tried to expedite payment by skipping the check protocols instituted by Comptroller Maureen Walker.

The bank did not recognize the check when the dealer tried to cash it.

Walker, whose office had approved the initial check and signed it, then refused to issue a new check because she suspected the car was not for rank-and-file police needs. She believed it was destined for Joseph Spiezio, the $1-a-year deputy police commissioner.

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Mount Vernon mayor Richard Thomas talks to attendees at a prayer vigil at City Hall in Mount Vernon on Thursday, October 5, 2017.(Photo: John Meore/The Journal News)

Thomas sued Walker in state Supreme Court and the bank, JP Morgan Chase, made the court-ordered payment.

Walker based her suspicion in part on an estimate from the dealer in late August that was addressed not only to the police department's fleet manager but to Spiezio as well.

Last month, both Spiezio and the mayor insisted the Suburban was never meant for the deputy commissioner. The mayor said it was always intended for his security detail.

Thomas justified the upgrade from his previous city car, a Chevrolet Tahoe, saying he needed a car that accommodates eight people for when he conducts tours for companies considering moving to Mount Vernon.